THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409220089
SECTION: TELEVISION PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
NOW HERE'S A STRETCH: In a made-for-TV movie on NBC Monday night at 9, Tori Spelling plays a spoiled rich kid who is the envy of her classmates.
One of the high schoolers is so-o-o-o-o envious of Spelling's character in ``A Friend to Die For,'' that she stabs her in a fit of rage.
The knife wielder is that nice kid from ``Life Goes On'' and ``Christy,'' Kellie Martin. Kellie a murderer? Tori playing somebody who isn't as sweet as Donna on ``Beverly Hills 90210''?
What's going on here?
``I wanted to play a character totally different from anything I'd auditioned for in the past,'' said Martin when she and Spelling met TV critics in Los Angeles not long ago.
``Playing a real bad girl for a change was fun,'' said Spelling. ``In bad-girl roles, you get the best lines. Next, I'd like to be a heroine in a horror film.''
There's a lesson for young viewers in ``A Friend to Die For,'' which is based on the true story of a 17-year-old who killed someone after she failed to make it as cheerleader, didn't qualify for the yearbook staff and was snubbed by an elite club on campus.
``This movie will show you how a young person can snap under extreme, intense peer pressure,'' said Martin.
Watch it with your kids.
More premieres
Here it is, the end of September, and the TV premieres are still rolling out.
The best new sitcom of the Class of 1994, ``The Five Mrs. Buchanans,'' premieres tonight at 9 on CBS. It's an ensemble comedy with a talented cast heded by Judith Ivey and Eileen Heckart. The sisters-in-law all hate mom.
Come Sunday at 8, Angela Lansbury will star in the 220th episode of ``Murder She Wrote.'' In 11 seasons on CBS, Lansbury as author-turned-sleuth Jessica Fletcher has thrashed 44 series on competing networks.
The show averages 31 murders a season, which is about par for a country as violent as the United States. But who would ever expect to see five to six murders a year in peaceful Cabot Cove, which is really a slice of the back lot at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif.?
``I always thought I'd burn myself out if I went into a weekly television series,'' said Lansbury to a recent gathering of TV writers. ``But once I got to the ripe old age of 59, I thought to myself, `What do I have to lose?' ''
Love ya, Angela, and so what if you're 0-for-14 for the Emmy?
``Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' begins its third season WGNT Monday at 8 p.m. Some baddies from the Gamma Quadrant threaten Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the space station.
Just when you thought you had seen the last of Newt Call and that bunch from the ``Lonesome Dove'' miniseries, Newt and the Hat Creek boys come bounding back into your living rooms in ``Lonesome Dove: The Series,'' which begins its run on WGNT Friday at 8 p.m. Old heads in the cast include Dennis Weaver, Robert Culp, Billy Dee Williams and Diahann Carroll.
Also on TV
Here's what else the TV gods have handed down from the heavens:
Am I strange because I like most TV commercials? I consider them mini-dramas. You know I'll be watching E! Entertainment Television tonight at 6 to take in ``Joy of Advertising,'' which revives the best commercials and advertising slogans. ``Where's the beef?''. . . PBS (WHRO) has a special for baseball fans who can't wait for Ken Burns' ``Baseball'' miniseries to resume. Tonight at 9, you can get your baseball fix by watching ``Nolan Ryan: Feel the Heat.'' . . .
The very cool PBS series, ``Ghostwriter,'' begins its third season on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Katie Couric of NBC's ``Today'' will be the co-host along with Jamal and Lenni. . . . Country music alert! Sunday night at 8, The Family Channel's ``Country Music Spotlight'' will feature Crystal Gayle. ``The Legends of Country Music'' on The Nashville Network on Thursday night at 8 has Tammy Wynette singing with Loretta Lynn. . . .
Let's hope that you never get closer to a tornado than The Weather Channel's documentary about nature at its angriest. ``Target Tornado'' will be seen Sunday at 8 p.m. It's a history lesson about the century's fiercest tornado out-breaks. . . .CNN takes you into the world of the drug lords of Colombia Sunday night at 9 in ``The Kingdom of Cocaine,'' reported by Peter Arnett and Brian Barger. . . .
Home Team Sports dropped in at the Oceanfront not long ago to tape some of the East Coast Surfing Championships. It's the only Bud Surf Tour held outside of Hawaii and California, dudes. See Virginia Beach sun and surf for an hour on HTS Monday starting at 1:30 p.m. . . . I'm a sucker for submarine movies. I also like documentaries about the hunter and the hunted beneath the waves. The Discovery Channel is repeating its dandy series on submarines, ``Submarines: Sharks of Steel,'' starting Monday night at 10. . . .
Richmonder Arthur Ashe's life story is the subject of a HBO documentary, ``Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World,'' which premieres on Tuesday at 10 p.m. . young kids up to speed in a fast-changing world, goes for the older crowd with ``Smart Sex'' on MTV, also Tuesday night at 10 . . .
The folks in Virginia Beach at New Dominion Pictures who have been producing ``Archaeology'' for The Learning Channel sign on with a new show Wednesday at 8 p.m. ``Paleoworld'' brings the age of the dinosaur to TLC. . .
A&E will carry the American Film Institute's tribute to Jack Nicholson at 9 p.m. Thursday. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Kellie Martin, left, and Tori Spelling portray not-so-wholesome high
school students in " A Friend to Die For." which will premiere
Monday night at 9 on NBC.
by CNB